“It’s a very positive step and we will pursue negotiations
up to the last and try to bring all concerned in that area to
the constitutional framework,” Bereket said in a phone
interview from the capital, Addis Ababa, today.

Principles to end the 28-year conflict in the Ogaden area
of Ethiopia’s Somali regional state were agreed during initial
talks on Sept. 6 and Sept. 7 in Nairobi, the rebel group said in
an e-mailed statement today.

The Ogaden National Liberation Front has fought a low-level
insurgency in the area with natural gas reserves of 4 trillion
cubic feet since 1984, seeking greater autonomy. In April 2007,
the group attacked a site operated by China’s Zhongyuan
Petroleum Exploration Bureau, killing nine Chinese workers and
65 Ethiopians.

An unspecified date has been agreed for more talks
facilitated by the Kenyan government and attended by Ethiopia’s
Minister of Defence Siraj Fergasa and ONLF Foreign Secretary
Abdirahman Mahdi, the rebel group said.

The talks occurred after armed insurgents indicated they
wanted to take the “peaceful avenue,” Bereket said. “It’s in
this spirit that talks have started,” he said.

The government signed a peace deal with a faction of the
group in October 2010, since when it has denied occasional
claims of successful attacks on security forces by rebels.

An e-mail and phone calls to U.S. and U.K. numbers for
Mahdi were not immediately answered.